Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that schools raise awareness of mental health problems experienced by children and young people.

The Government is taking steps to increase the knowledge of teachers so that they are equipped to raise awareness of mental health issues. The Department of Health and Social Care is funding mental health awareness training for a teacher in every secondary school and is planning to extend that to all primary schools before the end of this Parliament. This is in addition to funding MindEd - a free online portal that provides information and training for all adults working with children and young people about mental health problems.

As part of the proposals set out in the green paper Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision, the Government has committed to funding all schools to train a Designated Senior Lead for mental health. The leads will be trained in how to promote and support good mental health and wellbeing in a school setting. The green paper can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper.